Immortal Enemy
by Akarnia
Summary: A warlord has gotten a hold of some ambrosia and is terrorizing Greece. Ares Xena and Gabrielle go to get the hinds blood dagger to stop the warlord, but Ares becomes injured and now Gabrielle and Xena must stop the warlord and save Ares' life.


Immortal Enemy  
  
Author: Jessie Rating: PG Disclaimer: The character Xena, Gabrielle, and Ares do not belong to me but to the creators of the show. Warning: No Subtext, sex, or language, just a little kissing Summary: A warlord gets a hold of some ambrosia, Ares is injured and it's up to Xena and Gabrielle to save the day. Note: Takes place after "Path of Vengeance" Feedback: Amzngirl04@aol.com  
  
Gabrielle awoke early with the sun and had made a small fire near the campsite. Across from her Xena still slept. Gabrielle sliced some bread and placed it in the frying pan, then over the fire. Not much later Xena began to stretch and awaken.  
  
"Good morning," Gabrielle greeted her friend cheerfully.  
  
"What are you doing up so early?" Xena grinned.  
  
"Oh I just thought I'd get breakfast started so we could get out of here sooner."  
  
"Ok great.uh, can you go fill the wine skins, I'll finish breakfast for you."  
  
"Sure," Gabrielle replied and got up to get the wine skins from the saddlebag and made her way to the nearby lake to fill them with water. Xena got up and put her boots and gauntlets on, then she walked to the saddlebag to gather the rest of her armor. As she began to untie the bag a warm and tingling feeling swept over her.  
  
"What do you want?" Xena casually asked, and a sudden burst of bright blue light flashed in front of her, revealing Ares, who then walked to Xena's side.  
  
"Xena, hi. I need to ask you for something."  
  
"Oh, what's that?" Xena asked, not very interested.  
  
"I was hoping that, ummm, you could tell me where the hind's blood dagger is," Ares shyly asked as Xena turned to him in shock.  
  
"The hind's blood. why would I give you that?"  
  
"I need it," argued Ares.  
  
"What in the world for?" Xena asked.  
  
"This guy, some murdering warlord, got a hold of some ambrosia recently. Now he's a bloodthirsty god and he's forming a huge army."  
  
"So you want the dagger to kill him with?" Xena asked seriously.  
  
"Yes," Ares gasped, relived that she understood him.  
  
"To ensure that there won't be a new and improved God of War intruding on your territory?" She finished, now smiling.  
  
"NO! . Well, maybe a little, but that's not the only reason," Ares yelled defensively.  
  
"Oh yeah, and what's the other?" Xena curiously asked.  
  
"I don't want this lunatic killing hundreds of innocent people." Ares said very sincerely, but then he noticed the look of suspicion on Xena's face.  
  
"I can't believe you don't believe me!" He yelled, frustrated.  
  
"I do, I believe you. It just sounds strange."  
  
"Why does it sound so strange Xena? Do you hate me that much, am I still so evil that you can never trust me?" Ares angrily yelled.  
  
"Don't start," Xena whispered and turned her back to him, but before she could walk away Ares grabbed her arm and turned her back around.  
  
"Xena. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."  
  
"It's ok."  
  
"I'm not finished. I also want to apologize for leading you to the side of darkness, for promising you dreams I could never give you. I just want to say I'm sorry for my part in making you miserable, and I'm sorry for all the times I tempted and tormented you when you turned to good. It was wrong. I may have liked the old evil Xena, a LOT, but you're the one I fell in love with," Ares explained. There was a long awkward silence between the two. Xena was clearly touched by his words, but after a while Ares gave up on a response from Xena and began to walk away.  
  
"Ares wait.I'm sorry," she finally said and Ares turned back to her.  
  
"Sorry for what?" Ares asked, confused.  
  
"For being so mean and unsympathetic, for blowing you off when you were trying to be open with me, and for not believing you changed. I'm sorry I made it so hard for you," Xena apologized honestly. Ares slowly leaned into her and gently kissed her lips.  
  
"Xena. what are you doing?" Gabrielle yelled. Xena and Ares broke the kiss and jumped away from each other.  
  
"Er. Ares needs our help," Xena responded like nothing had happened.  
  
"Looks like you came to his rescue," Gabrielle joked.  
  
"Gabrielle." Xena warned.  
  
"Sorry, what can we do for you Ares?"  
  
"I need the hind's blood dagger so I can get rid of this crazy new god."  
  
"What, Xena are you listening to this?"  
  
"He has a good reason Gabrielle, a warlord found some ambrosia and now he's a god, and has formed a large army."  
  
"He's already wiped out a large number of coastal villages, now he's on his way to Athens. I have to kill him before he does that," Ares clarified.  
  
"Why can't Xena do it?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
"Because I won't ask Xena to kill anyone," Ares explained. Xena shot a look towards Gabrielle to catch a reaction from his words, but she showed none.  
  
"What's this guy's name?" Xena asked Ares.  
  
"His name is Tremulous. He's a young, ambitious man with great fighting ability and a lust for blood and power, kind of like the young Xena I took under my wing."  
  
"Except he's a god," Gabrielle pointed out.  
  
"So where is it?" Ares angrily asked.  
  
"It's in one of Eli's temples."  
  
"Where in the temple?" Ares asked. Xena thought for a while.  
  
"Umm. How about we go along with you and show you?"  
  
"Well, I guess there's no harm in that. Hey, wait, you're just going with me to make sure I won't do anything else with it because you don't trust me," Ares spat. Xena and Gabrielle both offered him innocent smiles.  
  
"O.K, fine, I'll go with you to prove it and you know what? I'm gonna walk the whole way."  
  
During the journey Ares and Gabrielle competed for Xena's attention, though Xena paid no attention to either of them. They traveled through most of the day, but just before the sun began to set Xena spotted smoke rising in the distance. The three ran over the hill to see a rather large village burnt to the ground. They made their way down the streets of the ruins of the once prosperous town searching for survivors. There didn't seem to be any until Gabrielle heard the quiet weeping of a woman.  
  
"Over here!" She called to Xena and Ares. The three ran to an elderly woman's side, who was kneeling down next to the body of an elderly man.  
  
"What happened here?" Gabrielle asked with concern.  
  
"An army. the leader, he was like a god, he and his men just swept through the village," she cried.  
  
"It's Tremulous," Ares stated. Xena knelt down next to the woman and asked her slowly.  
  
"Did you see what direction they went?"  
  
"They went northeast," the woman replied.  
  
"That's Athens," Gabrielle stated.  
  
"It's also the direction of the temple. We need to go now," Xena added.  
  
"No. it's almost dark out we need to set up camp."  
  
"Gabrielle, we have to go now."  
  
" If we travel through the night, Xena, you'll be in no shape to fight. I'm sure Tremulous and his army is camped for the night. We can catch up tomorrow," Gabrielle argued. Xena looked away, not wanting to admit she was wrong.  
  
"Fine, but we leave at sunlight."  
  
"Agreed," Gabrielle said.  
  
Xena, Ares, and Gabrielle searched the forest and found an area to set up camp. Xena left to hunt for their dinner before the last bit of light was gone. Gabrielle worked on a fire and Ares sat and watched.  
  
"You and Xena seem to be getting along well," Gabrielle suggested, trying not to sound rude. Ares looked over to her and grinned. "Yeah?" She looked away and continued her work. Ares' grin faded and he noticed Gabrielle looked a bit angry and uncomfortable.  
  
"Gabrielle, I'm not trying to take Xena away from you. No matter how I feel about her, or however she feels about me, I don't know. We can't be together. I'm bad for her and I think I remind her too much of the past. After all, I am the god of war and that's exactly what Xena is trying to escape. besides, I know her place is here with her best friend, going on adventures, doing good, yada yada yada, and if that's what makes her happy then that's all I want for her."  
  
Gabrielle smiled back at Ares and nodded her head.  
  
"You're a good man, Ares."  
  
Ares let out a short, simple laugh.  
  
"I think that's the first time I've ever been told that."  
  
Xena stomped into the camp with a rather pathetic looking rabbit in her hand. "I got one small rabbit, best I could do," Xena complained. She handed the dead rabbit to Gabrielle and sat down next to her. Gabrielle cooked dinner, and after they ate they settled down and went to sleep for the night.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Just as the sun began to peak over the horizon, Xena, Gabrielle and Ares awoke and they packed up and headed out towards the temple. As the temple where the Hind's Blood Dagger was hidden was only a few miles outside of Athens, Xena decided to get the dagger first and then go up against Tremulous. After half a day spent walking they finally arrived at the temple. Xena, Gabrielle, and Ares quickly entered. To their surprises the inside of the temple was in shambles. Statues were shattered, furniture was smashed.  
  
"What happened here?" Gabrielle sadly spoke as she picked up a vase. "What quarrel does Tremulous have with Eli?"  
  
"I don't think it had to do with Eli, they were looking for something," Ares concluded. Xena silently ran behind the altar and lifted a tile. "It's gone!" Xena yelled. Gabrielle and Ares ran to Xena and looked down at the spot where the dagger once rested.  
  
"Who could have taken it?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
"I believe that would be me," a voice boomed against the temple walls. It was a man in full armor. In his right hand was a long, jagged dagger.  
  
"Tremulous, how did you know where to find the dagger?" Ares asked.  
  
"I'm a god, how long would it have taken you, without the help of a mortal of course?"  
  
"Hand it over, you're not meant to have the power of a god, let alone the ability to kill them," Ares demanded.  
  
"You're wrong. It's my destiny to be a god, the God of War, as a matter of fact, one that's not love-struck and soft," Tremulous sneered. Ares couldn't hold back his rage and he ran at Tremulous and began to fight him.  
  
"Ares, no!" Xena called to him, but not much later Tremulous found an opportunity and stabbed Ares below his collarbone. Tremulous pulled it out quickly and left. Ares fell to the ground.  
  
"Ares!" Xena yelled and ran to his side.  
  
"Xena.He. he stabbed me," Ares cried. Terror filled his eyes as blood covered his body for the first time.  
  
"Is he going to be ok?" Gabrielle asked.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Maybe. what does maybe mean?" Ares frantically asked.  
  
"If you don't get some ambrosia soon, the poison from the hind's blood will travel and you'll die."  
  
"That's bad," Ares said.  
  
"Xena what are we going to do?" Gabrielle asked. Xena and Gabrielle carefully helped Ares over to the altar where he lay down.  
  
"I need you to bandage him, that's all we can do for now. I'm going to get the ambrosia and kill Tremulous," Xena sternly said and began to leave.  
  
"Xena!" Gabrielle shouted. Xena turned around. "Be careful," Xena smiled at Gabrielle and left.  
  
Xena silently crept through the dark. Not far away she spotted a large camp belonging to Tremulous. She saw Tremulous exit a larger tent and, suspecting it was his, she made her way into it. She quickly began to search for the dagger and the ambrosia. Neither was in sight; Tremulous must have been smarter than she thought. Suddenly he entered the room behind her.  
  
"The best way to protect something is by keeping it at your side," he laughed at Xena's attempt to search his tent. Xena turned around and readied herself for a fight.  
  
"You can't beat me Xena, I'm a god," Tremulous threatened, and Xena could only laugh.  
  
"Please, I've beaten my share of gods, defeating a rookie immortal will be a quick walk in the park," she mused, and then she noticed the dagger. It was carried on the side of his boot; she had to get it somehow.  
  
"We'll see about that," he yelled and charged Xena. A violent fight broke out between the two. Tremulous was better than Xena thought, but still no match for her. Xena got him down and grabbed the dagger, but before she could use it on him, about ten of his soldiers came in the tent. Xena didn't want to risk fighting all of them plus a god, so she escaped and went back to the temple.  
  
Xena entered the temple and inside Gabrielle stood next to Ares, soaking his bandages.  
  
"Xena, did you get it?" Gabrielle asked and walked up to the exhausted Xena.  
  
"I got the dagger but not the ambrosia," Xena explained. She walked up to where Ares lay and looked at the wound.  
  
"He's asleep. Xena the poison is moving fast. I don't know how much longer he'll." Gabrielle began.  
  
"I have to go back and get it," Xena whispered and started to leave, but Gabrielle grabbed her arm and stopped her.  
  
"Xena, let me go," Gabrielle offered.  
  
"No Gabrielle, you could get hurt."  
  
"I'm not a little girl any more, I thought you knew that by now. Besides, you are tired, and I think Ares would much rather that you were here with him than me, especially if he might. die."  
  
Xena thought a moment, unsure of how she felt, then she took Gabrielle's hand in hers.  
  
"You're right Gabrielle, you are an excellent warrior, and if there was anyone who I thought could do this it would be you. I just don't want anything to happen to you."  
  
"Thank you. You know Xena, I feel the same way when you leave without me. I can do this," Gabrielle pleaded and Xena smiled.  
  
"I know you can. here, take this," Xena handed her the dagger. "He carries the ambrosia in a small pouch on his belt. Get that, and kill him," Xena explained. Gabrielle nodded and started out of the temple.  
  
"Gabrielle," Xena called. Gabrielle turned back around. "Be careful," they both laughed and Gabrielle left.  
  
Xena watched her friend leave, then went to change Ares' bandages. His face was pale and his body was hot. Xena slowly and carefully removed the old bandages and wiped his wound, which was dangerously close to his heart. As the cold cloth made contact, Ares flinched and propped himself up on his elbows. Xena drew back and apologized "Sorry."  
  
"It's ok, I should be used to the pain by now," Ares mused. Xena looked at him sympathetically.  
  
"You never get used to it."  
  
Ares grabbed her hand that had begun to clean his wound and looked into her eyes. "Or the heartache." Xena quickly looked away and played dumb. "Heartache?"  
  
"I know I have told you before, but it wasn't very sincere. I just want to let you know in a way so you know that I truly mean it."  
  
"Mean what?" Xena asked while finishing her job. Ares reached up and turned her to face him.  
  
"I love you," Ares whispered. His brown eyes were so powerful that it scared Xena to look into them. She was lost for words.  
  
"I know," was all she could say for a moment. "I care about you, Ares, and I do have feelings for you, I'm just not ready to be with anybody. I like my life the way it is."  
  
Ares nodded "I understand," and he looked away. Silence.  
  
"Ares?" Xena asked quietly. He looked up, giving her his attention again. "Before, when we were together, when I was your warrior.did you love me?" Xena asked. Ares looked at her, knowing the answer and also knowing he had to tell her even though it might hurt her.  
  
"No. I only desired you." Xena looked down into her lap and shrugged it off.  
  
"That's how it usually was with all my relationships," she sighed. Ares put his hand gently on her shoulder. "It shouldn't be that way, Xena. I wish at least half the people who love you loved me. In fact, I think the only one who does love me is Aphrodite. It's just you're so beautiful, not only outside, but your soul. it's hard not to love."  
  
Xena's eyes filled with emotion and she leaned in to kiss Ares passionately. He lay back down and as she moved her hand down his chest and across his wound he jerked in pain, and she sat back up.  
  
"I'm gonna kill Tremulous," Ares growled, then looked up at Xena.  
  
"So are you still saying that we can never be together?" Xena slowly stood up and put a blanket over his body. "Forever is a long time. Get some rest."  
  
Xena walked away and hoped that Gabrielle would be back soon.  
  
It was now very late at night and most of Tremulous' men were asleep, but since Tremulous was a god she knew he would be wide-awake. She silently made her way into his tent, but he was nowhere to be seen. Before Gabrielle had a chance to think of what to do next, a strong arm wrapped around her neck. Gabrielle quickly shot her elbow back into the man's stomach and then his nose. He released her and Gabrielle saw that it was Tremulous.  
  
"Awwww, it's Xena's little friend, this should be easy," he growled.  
  
"Don't be so sure," Gabrielle growled back and attacked him. She proved to be a very worthy opponent. Tremulous found a chance to take Gabrielle down. He punched her across the face and tripped her. Gabrielle fell to her back, still tightly gripping the dagger. Tremulous raised his sword over his head. Gabrielle raised her dagger and stabbed him in the stomach before he could strike. She stood up still holding the dagger in his body until he slipped off of it and fell to the ground. She took the dagger and cut off the pouch of ambrosia that hung from his belt, and made her way back to Xena and Ares.  
  
When Gabrielle got back to the temple the sun was almost starting to rise. She ran in the door and saw Xena with her head resting down on the altar next to Ares. She walked to her side and gently tapped her.  
  
"Xena, wake up, I got it," she whispered. Xena jumped up and quickly took the ambrosia from the pouch. She leaned over the altar and slipped a small piece into Ares' mouth. Within seconds Ares eyes flickered open, and he was well again. Xena had been holding his hand, and he took her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Thank you Xena," he whispered.  
  
"Don't thank me, thank Gabrielle. She killed Tremulous and got the ambrosia," Xena explained. Ares sat up and looked at Gabrielle.  
  
"Thank you," he said sincerely.  
  
"No problem," she smiled and Ares smiled back. "I owe you guys," he said and disappeared in a blue flash. Gabrielle walked over to Xena and Xena put her arm around Gabrielle's shoulder.  
  
"He has changed so much," Gabrielle said, amazed.  
  
"Nah, next week he'll be putting us in some life or death situation again," Xena laughed.  
  
"It's what he does," Gabrielle said in Ares defense.  
  
"And I wouldn't have it any other way," Xena smiled and they both laughed.  
  
"By the way, I'm very proud of you, Gabrielle," Xena continued.  
  
"Thanks. now let's go to bed. I'm exhausted!" Gabrielle cried.  
  
"Good idea," Xena agreed. Xena and Gabrielle both laid out their bedrolls and went to sleep.  
  
The End 


End file.
